


Like Real People Do

by KatherineF



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: 5+1 Things, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Panic Attacks, Post-Canon, Soft Andrew Minyard, Soft Neil Josten, Soft Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 22:23:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20571914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatherineF/pseuds/KatherineF
Summary: The Foxes might not be fully supportive of their relationship for a long time, but it slowly becomes obvious that these two sharp boys are incredibly soft for each other.5 times that Andrew and Neil are soft for each other, and the one time that all of the Foxes see it.





	Like Real People Do

**Author's Note:**

> Another 5+1 because I love writing them, and more fluff because I just want Neil and Andrew to be happy.  
Some of it may be ooc, but who cares? I'm just here to have a good time.  
Come hang out with me on tumblr at kar3npage to yell about All for the Game:)
> 
> Title from the song by Hozier

1.  
The change room is as loud and exuberant as it always is before practice. Kevin was announcing something to the group, though none of them were listening to him, and Matt and Nicky were having a friendly argument over which Hollywood Chris was the best looking. Jack was doing his absolute best to suck up to Kevin, who barely noticed the first year hovering around him.  
Aaron wasn’t sure what brought his attention to his brother in the first place, since he never was a part of the craziness that usually took over the change room when everyone was in it at the same time. Perhaps it was because Neil wasn’t coming up with any smart comments to Kevin’s speech, or messing around with Matt.  
No matter the reason, Aaron’s attention was drawn to the corner that held Andrew and Neil.  
Normally Andrew would be changed already, watching his groups back while they messed around. Today he hadn’t even started changed and Neil was standing beside him with a wrinkle in his brow. Aaron hadn’t noticed a difference in the car, but he wasn’t really paying attention. Plus, he still struggled being able to tell the difference between his brothers different emotions.  
A part of him hated that Neil was able to read Andrew so easily when he had never gained the skill, and he doubted that he ever will.  
He caught Neil's eye and raised an eyebrow, tipping his head toward Andrew. Neil shook his head gently. A bad day, then.  
Aaron moved slightly closer to the corner, until he could hear Neils quiet voice.  
“You don’t have to be here today if you don’t want to. You know that, right? I’ll keep an eye on Aaron and Kevin.”  
Aaron held in a scoff. If he needed someone to keep an eye on him, it would be because he was going to murder Neil for his smart mouth, not because he would be in danger. Despite that, Andrew seems to relax a bit at the promise.  
“What do you need from me?” Neil says gently. He’s half changed already, since he still changes his shirt out in the bathroom. Aaron isn’t sure why, everyone knows he has the scars by now. “Do you want to call Betsy?”  
Aaron looks up abruptly, waiting for Andrew to pull a knife or something for the assumption that he needed help. He doesn’t though, just slumps toward Neil a bit and shakes his head no.  
“Okay. Alone time? We can all find a ride back with Matt and Allison.” Neil doesn’t sound pitying or sympathetic, just matter of fact. Aaron is still trying to figure out how Neil knows what to do. He never would have noticed how Andrews eyes seems miles away if no one had mentioned it.  
Andrew still doesn’t respond, but that doesn’t faze Neil. “Maybe you can set up and organize the bookshelves we got.”  
To Aarons surprise, Andrew relaxes a bit more and nods. Neil smiles a bit at that. “I’ll keep my phone with me, call me if you need anything. Or Betsy. Or Renee.”  
Andrew gives Neil a look and he laughs a bit. “Yes, I charged it. I’ll answer if you call.”  
There’s a moment where the two have a silent conversation before Andrew grabs closes his locker and walks out of the changeroom.  
“Andrew!” Kevin says, sending Neil a frantic look. “You can’t just leave practice!”  
Andrew leaves, the door clanging behind him. Neil gives Kevin a sharp grin. “Yes he can.”  
No one is surprised when Jack speaks up. “Just because you’re vice captain doesn’t mean that you get to decide things like that.”  
If Aaron could get away with strangling the kid, he would have done it ages ago. By the look on Jostens face, he feels the same way.  
“Yes it does. And if you had the statistics that he does, and had pro teams looking into you already like he does, maybe you would get out of practice every once in a while,” Neil snaps.  
He will never, ever admit this to anyone, but Aaron thinks that maybe, maybe Josten is actually good for Andrew. He only makes fun of him a few times through practice to thank him.

2.  
The girls room always feels cozy and calm compared to the rest of the dorms. Renee always decorates it at the beginning of every year and Dan makes sure that everything stays tidy. Maybe that’s why Neil is comfortable enough to go sit in there every once in a while for a haircut and a chat with the girls.  
Allison will never not be proud of the fact that they’ve been able to get the jumpy striker to trust them enough that she can put scissors near his face without him having a panic attack.  
Neil is doing better dealing with Jack and the other new recruits than they thought that he would, but he’s still struggling with the constant comments that he’s had to deal with over the past month.  
Dan and Renee are doing their best to give him advice on how to deal with it himself without Wymack or Dan having to intervene while Allison cuts his hair. Allison breaks in every once in a while to tell him to resort to violence, which makes Renee give her a look of disappointment and makes Neil grin.  
Allison is nearly done when Neil checks his phone. He reads whatever message was waiting for him, then gives it the smallest, softest smile that Allison has ever seen. It makes her want to hug him. Instead, she just says, “is that Matt? Tell him we’re going for lunch after this.”  
Neil shakes his head. “No, it’s from Andrew. Look, he sent me a cat video.” He tilts his phone up so the girls can all see the video of a sweet cat being adopted off of the street and taken care of. It starts off as a skinny little mangy thing and ends the video with clear eyes and a soft looking coat of fur.  
Allison can not imagine blank faced Andrew watching this video in a million years.  
“That’s sweet Neil. Do you want a pet?” Renee says, smiling. She looks almost smug.  
“Andrew and I have been talking about getting a cat after grad. It’ll be tough at first, since he’ll be playing pro while I’m still in school and Betsy said that a pet would probably be good for both of us.”  
There’s a stunned silence in the room. Dan catches Allison’s eye and grins.  
“Andrew wants a cat?” Dan asks.  
“We both do, I think.” Neil smiles at the screen again before noticing the quiet that’s enveloped the room. “Why? Do you think that’s a bad idea?”  
“No! That’s a brilliant idea,” Allison jumps in.  
“I think we are all just surprised is all. We didn’t picture you or Andrew as pet people,” Renee says gently.  
Neil looks nervous and fidgets with his phone while he thinks through his answer. “Well, we both thought that it was a good idea for me. To have something that needs looking after, so I don’t have the option of running. And a cat would be good for Andrew because they don’t need as much touch as dogs do. But that isn’t for a while anyway.”  
Allison tilts Neil’s head up so he looks at her. She understands why all of the upperclassmen have practically adopted Neil, she would kill for the kid if she needed to. Dan looks like she’s going to cry. “That’s a great idea. You better let us name it,” she tells him firmly.  
Neil laughs while Allison hugs him. “Okay, but you have to tell Andrew that.”

When Neil goes back to his room to grab his coat before they go out for lunch, the three girls smile at each other. Allison hadn’t been fully on board with Neil and Andrews relationship, but hearing Neil talk about the future with hope made her think that maybe Andrew was softer than she realized.  
They started a bet on when they would get a second cat right there and then.

3.  
The dorm that Kevin shared with Andrew and Neil was often quiet, so he wasn’t surprised when no noise came from the room when he came home after dinner with Wymack and Abby.  
He realized why it was so quiet as he walked into the hallway. Neil was sitting on the bathroom counter while Andrew stood between his legs, applying some sort of medicated cream to the scars on his face. Both had a look of absolute concentration on their faces, and neither had noticed that Kevin was back.  
He was about to leave when Neil spoke. He knew that this was a private moment and he wasn’t invited to be a part of it, but something in Neils voice made him pause. They had spent a lot of time together in the past few years, and Kevin felt almost protective about him. It was the sibling relationship that he had never known before: one that had affection on both sides, one where their arguments never got physical, one where irritating each other was just as fun for the other person. Neil made Kevin want to pull out his hair sometimes, but if anyone else ever said anything bad about him he would make them swallow an Exy racket.  
“Andrew?” Neil says in a voice that Kevin’s never heard from him before. He sounds like he’s shattering slowly.  
Andrew pauses what he’s doing and waits for Neil to talk. He’s patient and just watches the redhead while he struggles to come up with the right words.  
“Do my scars ever… bother you?” Neil starts slowly. “Doesn’t it ever bother you how people stare at us all the time?”  
Andrew doesn’t answer right away and Kevin has the urge to walk over and yell at Neil to stop being stupid.  
“This is about the articles.” Andrew finally monotones.  
That makes more sense. The Foxes had been asked to be a part of a marketing campaign for a new active wear brand. The campaign was hugely popular and successful, but that also means that quite a few naysayers had come out of the woodwork to discuss whether or not Neil’s scars should have been photoshopped out.  
A few of the articles had been written like they were being supportive (‘Despite the Scars, Starting Striker Neil Josten is still a Looker!’) while others were just plain brutal (‘Should Josten really be the new Face of Exy? We Think Not’).  
Since Neil rarely payed attention to what others were saying about him, Kevin had assumed that he hadn’t even read most of the articles.  
“Jack sent a few to me today.”  
Andrews whole frame tenses for a moment before he turns his attention back to Neil. He puts his hands up to cradle Neils face slowly, then taps the scar on his cheek gently.  
“I like your scars. They’re yours.”  
Neil slumps down and closes his eyes, leaning into the touch.  
Very slowly, Andrew stretches up to kiss the knife scars on his other cheek, then grabs a hand to kiss the burn scars on his knuckles.  
Kevin decides to spend the night with Aaron and Nicky.

4.  
The sunset is stunning from the rooftop. The reds and oranges start off vibrant, then fade to a soft pink that bleeds up into the sky. It’s one of those sunsets that takes your breathe away, that makes you think that maybe life is worth all the pain for moments like this.  
Despite the beauty that’s sitting right in front of her, Renee isn’t paying attention to it. Her and Andrew were supposed to be sparring half an hour ago and when he didn’t show up, she came looking for him.  
Andrew had been irritable all week and Neil had been spending far more time at the court than he should have been. They were both wearing themselves out, and Renee was hoping that maybe she could help.  
The roof had been her first and only spot to check. Sure enough, Andrew was sitting with his legs over the side of the building, smoke in hand. Neil was sitting beside him, tension obvious in his frame.  
“I don’t want to force you into anything, Andrew. If you don’t want this, just tell me,” Neil was saying. He sounded more exhausted than angry.  
Andrew makes a sound that could only be described as a growl. Neil forges on, ignoring the glare he was getting.  
“You can’t be with someone just because you feel some sort of... of obligation to be with them.”  
“You think I feel obligated.”  
“Don’t you?”  
They stare at each other, Andrews cigarette completely forgotten.  
“No, I don’t. You aren’t forcing me into anything. You really think I would let you do that?”  
“You forced yourself to do lots of things you didn’t want to in order to take care of someone.”  
Andrew gives Neil a blank look. “I don’t do that anymore. You know that.”  
“I don’t want you to start again for me.” There’s no life to Neil’s voice. The sky is slowly getting darker, but neither of the boys notice.  
“I chose you. I keep choosing you. That’s my choice, no one is forcing me into anything.”  
“Why?”  
Andrew throws the cigarette down and glares at Neil. “Because I’m happy. You idiot.”  
Neil smiles and Renee can feel one of her own building. The fact that Andrew admitted to having any sort of feeling is a huge step, and she wishes that he would let her tell him that she was proud of him.  
“Okay.” Neil says.  
“Okay.”  
“I’m happy too.”  
“Okay.”  
Andrew lights another cigarette and offers it to Neil, who is still beaming up at him.  
Renee leaves them to it and leaves a message on Andrews phone to reschedule their session.

5.  
Matt never would have noticed anything different about the crowd for this game if Kevin hadn’t completely frozen when he entered the arena.  
One thing about Kevin is that he never tried to hide his feelings. Matt knew that it made Neil mad sometimes, but he secretly thought that the other starting striker could have learnt a thing or two from Kevin. Maybe not with the coping mechanisms, but the fact that he admitted that he needed help was a good thing.  
It didn’t take long for the team to find out that the one and only Ichirou Moriyama was sitting in the crowd at today’s game. No one knew why, since it wasn’t an important one against an important team.  
Neil refused to react, but he was particularly aggressive right from the start. They created an impressive point gap at the beginning of the game that only grew from there. Even Andrew put in effort when he was on. It was an easy win.  
Well, physically it was an easy win. Mentally, it obviously wasn’t. Kevin looked like he wanted to vomit through the entire game, and Wymack took him to Abby as soon as they finished their handshakes.  
No one could tell that it was affecting Neil until they got to the change room.  
The mood was unusually somber as they got undressed, despite the win. Even Jack kept his mouth shut and changed out quickly.  
The room was almost empty, with only Matt, Nicky, Andrew, and Neil left before he started to lose his composure.  
It started with shaking hands while he was trying to tie his shoes. Matt could see him trembling from where he was standing near Nicky. Andrew was there in an instant, watching Neil carefully.  
For a while all he can hear is the sound of Neil’s panicked breathing. Andrew kneels in front of him and pulls him down to sit on the bench. Matt can still see the frantic look in his eyes.  
“I can’t do that again,” Neil chokes out, breath still quick and painful sounding.  
“You won’t,” Andrew says.  
“I was resigned to it, to dying, but I can’t do that again. I want to live Andrew,” Neil sound desperate. Matt moves forward without even realizing. He can feel his heart break a little hearing about how Neil had been resigned about dying in his first year here.  
“You’re not going to go through that again. Listen, Neil-listen to me. I’ve got you.”  
Matt can feel Nicky at his back, both of them watching the scene like they’re watching a car accident that can’t be avoided. Nicky reaches out and grabs his arm for support.  
Andrew tugs Neil forward so his head rests on Andrews shoulder. Matt can see his shoulder shuddering but he can’t hear the sharp breaths anymore.  
“Come on, Nicky,” Matt murmurs under his breath and starts to lead Nicky toward the door. He knows that Neil doesn’t want anyone to witness him falling apart, and Andrew knows how to take care of him.  
Right before they leave the room he hears Andrew say, “Nothing is going to happen to you. I love you.”  
It’s so quiet that he almost thinks that he imagined it, but when he turns to look at Nicky and sees the other backliners shocked expression, he knows that Nicky heard it too.  
Matt allows himself a small smile. Neil will be alright.

+1  
The airport is always crazy at this time of the year, and Wymack is seriously considering just telling the Trojans that they won’t be able to make it to the game. He’s exhausted already from trying to keep an eye on all of his Foxes and they only just got there.  
He’s standing in line for coffee with Neil and Kevin, who are currently arguing about something that Wymack isn’t really paying attention to. When he looks at Neil he can tell that he’s arguing just to get a rise out of Kevin. His eyes are sparkling while Kevin shouts at him.  
Seeing the two boys so out of their shells makes him happy, even though they are helping give him a headache.  
Wymack barely notices the chaos behind him at first, not until Neil goes stiff and ignores whatever Kevin had just been ranting about.  
It’s impossible to tell what’s happening, just that airport security has swarmed the area and people are panicking. They seem mostly safe in the little coffee shop where they’re waiting in line, but the rest of the Foxes could be anywhere. They could be caught up in whatever’s going on over there.  
“Bomb threats,” someone whispers near him, and just like that people start throwing out ideas as to what could be going wrong. Each whispered theory makes Neil go paler.  
Kevin gives Wymack a frantic look and moves a step closer to him. Neil looks like he’s going to bolt into the crazed crowd. Wymack gently grips his arm to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid, and pulls out his phone with his other hand.  
“Hello?” Wymack can barely hear Dan over the noise behind her.  
“Dan, are you with the others?”  
“Uh, I’ve got Matt, Aaron, Nicky, and the new kids here with me.”  
“Where are Andrew and Renee?”  
Neil somehow goes even paler than he had been before. He grabs Wymacks wrist and watches him intently.  
“They went into one of the little shops near our gate, I think. I’m not sure whats going on, did you see all of the security?”  
“Yeah. Let me know if you find them. And stick together.”  
“Okay, we’ll meet you at the gate. Kevin and Neil are okay?”  
“Yep.”  
Beside him, Neil is clutching his phone to his ear. According to his tight expression, no one is picking up.  
It’s almost half an hour later and 20 unanswered phone calls to both Renee and Andrew before the insanity slows down and things start getting into control. Wymack grabs Kevin and Neil and pulls them through the crowd to their gate.  
He spots Andrew first and can tell the moment that Neil sees him, since he pulls out of his grip and runs over to the gate.  
Andrew and Neil are staring at each other, probably checking for injuries, by the time that Wymack and Kevin have arrived. The rest of the team is surrounding them, all shouting over each other. Allison has started a betting pool about what caused the chaos. Neil and Andrew are the calm in the middle of the storm.  
“I was worried about you,” Andrew says with more emotion than Wymack is used to hearing from him.  
“I was worried about you. You’re not allowed to mock me for not answering my phone anymore.” Neil says. Colour is slowly coming back into his cheeks.  
“We got stuck in the crowd. I’m sorry Neil,” Renee says from where she’s standing by Allison.  
Neil doesn’t even glance at her. “Are you okay?” he asks Andrew.  
Andrew nods.  
“Can I hug you?” Neil asks. Wymack can just barely hear him over the din of the team, and he doubts that anyone else can hear the two of them.  
Andrew nods.  
Neil shifts forward slowly, giving Andrew time to refuse. When Andrew’s hands go around his back to clutch at his hoodie Neil sighs and tucks his head into the joint between Andrews neck and shoulder. One of Andrews hands comes up to the back of Neils neck while the other grabs onto the back of his hoodie.  
Wymack doesn’t miss the money that changes hands when the others see the two boys, but he doesn’t let anyone interrupt them.  
After all his team has been through, he thinks that they deserve some happiness.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic of] Like Real People Do](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24079129) by [Flowerparrish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flowerparrish/pseuds/Flowerparrish)


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